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Raiders 101 provides 24/7 obsessive sports coverage of the Oakland Raiders as a part of Sports Media 101. For news,
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Miles Burris started for the Raiders in 2012 as a rookie. He had some growing pains as he was forced to start because the lack of depth and talent at the position, but also showed some of his strengths. He was always around the ball finishing second on the team with 96 total tackles. He plays with terrific effort and energy. However, with the upgrades made in the offseason, Burris has fallen on the depth chart. He is still battling the effects of knee surgery from earlier in the offseason which has prevented him from participating in mini-camp or OTAs. He will need to be healthy for training camp in order to compete to get his starting weak side linebacker job back.

Keenan Clayton came to the Raiders after being released by the Philadelphia Eagles a season ago. He appeared in 15 games last season and made his most valuable contribution on special teams. Because of his very good special teams play, the Raiders will take a long look at keeping Clayton on the roster. At training camp, he will have to solidify his value on the depth chart, but more importantly on special teams.

Kaelin Burnett joined the Raiders has an undrafted free agent out of Nevada. He is the brother of Kevin Burnett, who the Raiders brought in via free agency. Burnett will compete for depth at strong-side linebacker, while Kevin will compete with Burris on the weak-side. He appeared in six games last season, mostly on special teams.

On paper, the Raiders did a tremendous job improving their outside linebackers this offseason. The competition at training camp will be fierce and the starters will have earned their spots. Last season the Raiders' linebacker corps had issues. This season, they brought in experience, leadership, and depth which should do wonders in helping a defense that struggled in 2012.